A plant first used by prehistoric man 30,000 years ago could be used to help fight infections.

Researchers have found that fibres from the common flax plant can kill bacteria efficiently when treated with special light-sensitive dyes and exposed to red light.

Academics at the University of Brighton say the approach could, for example, reduce contamination on bed linen and patients’ clothes from bacteria including MRSA.

Flax absorbs some light-sensitive dyes with a greater capacity than the most commonly used material, cotton.

After stimulation with red light, the dyes produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) that kill bacteria.

ROS, which are chemically-reactive molecules containing oxygen, attack in several different ways which means bacteria is less likely to develop resistance to the treatment, unlike antibiotics.

Senior research fellow Iain Allan said: “Using flax with absorbed reactive dye could benefit patient care in hospitals which have ambient red light installed and this could reduce the microbial burden on linen and clothes.

"Infections resistant to antibiotics are a big problem in patient care and will become an even bigger problem in the future, so we have to look for alternative approaches as soon as possible.”

The aim of the four-year, £2.1 million European Union-funded flax research project aims to boost the production value of flax through exploring its potential use in biomedical applications, as food and as a biodegradable material for packaging.

Flax thrives well and sustainably in the UK and across Europe, and it has been economically important for centuries for its versatility in strength and variety of quality.

Its fibres were used by prehistoric man to make cloth. Professor of materials chemistry Sergey Mikhalovsky has been working with the universities of Rouen and Le Havre in France, the French research institution CNRS and LBN, a firm which produces flax.

Prof Mikhalovsky said: “At present, applications of flax are fairly limited, mostly because alternative natural fibres such as cotton, silk and jute, imported from overseas, and synthetic fibres, are used.

“Flax fibre accounts for only 0.7% of the world’s fibre production.

“However, concerns for environmental pollution have imposed significant pressure on industry and society as a whole to reduce environmental impact of human activity and minimise waste generation in all types of activities.”